heney eiepen



(ModeL) H. H. RIEPEN.

AUTOMATIC GRAIN sGALB. No. 363,766. Patented May 24, 1887.

Kama; L {N N KWQQKM.

N. Pncns. PhclwLijhognphnn Washingion. By C.

UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

H. HENRY RIEPEN, OF BUSHNELL, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOSEPH KATZENS'IEIN, LOUIS KAISER, AND GUSTAVUS A. KAISER, ALL OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC GRAIN-SCALE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 363,766, dated May 24, 1887.

Application filed July 12, i886. Serial No. 207,705. (Model) To all whom it may concern: same device, showinga front view of said regis. Be it known that I, H. HENRY RIEPEN, a ter and an end view of one of said pair of citizen of the United States of America, residweighing-beams. ing at Bushnell, in the county of McDonough The letter A represents said measure box or 5 and State of Illinois, have invented certain casing, which is made of suitable materials new and useful Improvements in an Autoand of the general shape shown. The rectanmatic GrainMeasurer, of which the following gular body of said box has the hopper-shaped is a specification, reference being had therein rim B, introduced into its top, for the purpose to the accompanying drawings. of properly conducting the inpouring grain IO My invention is an automatic grain-meter, from a leading-spout or elevator into said 60 and embraces, in brief, the following novel measuring-box, the open base of which swells features: The boX measure or easing suroutwardly on each side and then tapers inmounted by a hopper-opening and having a wardly by equal angles, as shown, into an rigid median partition rising vertically and outwardlyconducting grain -spout-, O, when 15 from its open base and above its swelling and said grain has been measured or weighed and 65 tapering spout; also, a vibrating trap-door released from said casing, as hereinafter dehaving its lower edge contiguously pivoted scribed. The casing is also divided into two along the top edge of said rigid partition, and equally-sized and alternatelymeasuring comits top edge swinging from side. toside and partments, a and a, by the said rigid partition 2 resting on either side of said casing; also, a b, which rises parallel with the sides of the boxtriple-planed trap-floor pivoted at the angle body from the horizontal line of its open base, meeting of its top planes along the lower edge as shown, and is surmounted by said swinging of said rigid partition and oscillated by the trap-door c, pivoted by the axlerod 1", so that regulated weight of cumulative grain; also, its lower edge bears upon the top edge of said 25 said oscillating floor furnished with a forked rigid partition, as shown, while its upper edge and vibrated bar, and with a pair of springis caused to swing alternately from one side of latches secured one to each end of said trapthe casing to the other, or allowed to rest floor; also, a pair of graduated lever-beams, against eitherside,asshown. This alternated suitably hung one on each side of said openmotion and rest-f0r thepurpose of alternate] y 0 base of the casing, and furnished each with a opening and simultaneously closing the re- 80 set-screwed scale-weight; and,'tinally,saidb0X spective upper passages into said compartapparatus furnished with an automatic regisments a and a, in order to alternately fill and ter, the train of which is suitably secured empty-the-same, one with grain for measure- -upon either side of said box and contiguously ment and the other of grain after measure- 3 5 above the latched end of said oscillating trapment--is produced as follows: The trap-floor floor, all of which and their purposes are D of said casing is made of a suitable framehereinafter more fully described, and illuswork of wood and of thetransversely-triangutrated by the accompanying drawings, in lar shape shown. Said floor is medially hung which like letters designate identical parts of at the meeting angle of said equallvinclined 0 said invention in the different figures,respecttop planes or trap-floors by the hinging-lugs ively. g 6 upon the pivot-rod1", extending through the Figure l is a front view of the said device groove 9, made into the lower edge of said with the front cover of the casing broken out, rigid partition, as shown. Again, said oscilshowing the vibrated part or trap-door of lating platform D is provided with the 0011- 5 said rigid partition in connection with its renecting-bar E, the bifurcated end of which is ciprocally-moving and trap-floor-connectionsuitably fastened to the front of said platform, bar and the said oscillating trap-floor beneath, so that'when the base of the same is horizontal also the pair of lever and catching scale-beams the said connecting-bar will be in a vertical and the register-train attached to one side position. Said bar E is also provided with 50 of said casing. Fig. 2 is the side View of the the slideslot m, cut through the end opposite ICO to said bifurcation, and which incloses and engages vthe pin 1), projecting shown, from the front edge of said swinging trap-door through the arching slot at, so that when motion is reciprocally conveyed by said alternate oscillations of the platform D through connecting bar E to the pin 1) said pin freely slides along the arched slot 12, transmitting an alternately-swinging motion to said trap-door 0, thereby alternately opening and closing the respective upper passages into said compartments a and a, while the said basal passages of the same are being alternately and oppositely opened and closed by the oscillation of the platform I); also, thereby in turn shutting off the grain from one compartment, while allowing the measured grain to pass si multancously from the other compartment into and through said comlncting-spout (J, as shown.

In order to secure each trap-floor of said platform in horizontal position, and thereby to close up the lower opening of its respective compartment a or a, and to fill the same with grain for measurement, a pairofspring-latehes, Z, are suitably secured one on each swinging end of said platform, as shown, and as each latch is thus swung upward by the rising end of said platform it engages the projecting and beveled end of one of the said pair of lever beams F, and, springing over the same, is latched upon the top edge thereof, as shown,

where it remains caught until the weight of the grain in the filled and measuring compartment above causes its trap-floor to overbalance the said weighted and weighing leverbeam, thereby unlatching said oscillating floorplatform and allowing the weighed or measured grain to drop through the conductingspout, as shown. Simultaneously with the depression of the trap-floor of said emptying compartment the oscillation of said platform causes the opposite compartment trap-floor to rise and be latched upon the other of said pair of lever-beams, which oscillation also vibrates the said connecting-bar E, which causes the trap-door c, resting on the opposite side ofthe casing to that over the filled and new emptying compartment, to swing to the other side of the casing, thereby to close the upper passage to said emptying compartment, and also to form a slide to conduct the grain falling through said hopperopening above into the now trapclosed and filling compartment.

The above described process of weighing or measurement may be continued as long as desired and the grain is allowed to run, the said lever-beams being each so pivoted that its shorter and floorcatching arm is regulatively over-weighted by a sliding and set-screwed cyliuder, of suitable metal, hung upon its longer and graduated arm, these scale-weights being each made of sufticient gravity and so poised upon said scale-beams as to exactly balance the estimated weight, and therefore the numher of bushels, of the grain in either of said filled compartments, together with the friction of said latched and oscillating apparatus.

In relation to and in connection with said weighing and measuringapparatus a registcring device is added, as follows: Atrain of two wheels suitably secured upon either side connectively above said latching seale-bcams, as shown, the one wheel, to, being a ratchetpinion worked by a sliding angle-armed pawl, 12, pressed upwardly by the alternately-rising trap-floor of the oscillating platform D, and the other wheel, 10, a regulatively cogged pinion engaged by the bars of the ratchet and trundle wheel 10, and having its cogs, or the intervals between the same, regularly and successively numbered, as shown, to thereby indicate the number of oscillations of said trapdoor platform, and consequently the quantity of grain measured, Therefore,

\Vhat I claim as new, and. desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In the box-casing of the graiirmeterhaving the hopper-opening, the swelling and lapering spout, the rigidlysccnred median partition, and the arching slot herein described, the combination of the oscillating lloor-platform having the pivot-rod and end-projecting spring-latches with the forked and slotted connectingbar, and with the swinging trap-door surmount-ing said rigid partition and having the engaged swingpin, substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

2. The combination of the oscillating floorplatform having the end-projecting springlatches, with the trap-floor and grain support ing and balancing lever-beams, each having sliding and set'screwcd weights regulatively adjustive upon its graduated longerarm, substantially as and for the purposes herein specilied.

3. The combination of the oscillating pair of inclined trap-floors of the pivoted platform having the projecting spring-latches with the angle-armed and vertically-sliding pawl of the graduated trainwheels of the register, secured upon said box-casing just above the graduated and grainbalancing lever-beams, sub stantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

II. HENRY IHIIGPEN.

\Vitnesses:

A. A. PILSAUII, Gus'rnv Stronun. 

